Transfer-table



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

N. G. CARPENTER.

TRANSFER TABLE.

Patented Nov. 11,1890.

(No Model.)

N G. CARPENTER. 3Sl1eetsSheet 2.

TRANSFER TABLE.

Lain! was? r v Patented Nov. 11, 1890.

w: :laams PETERS cu. woro-m'na, wAsnmu control of the operator.

UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

NATHAN G. CARPENTER, OF AUSTIN, ILLINOIS.

TRANSFER-TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,419, dated November 1 1, 1890.

Application filed September 8, 1890- Serial No.364,165. (No model.)

To ail whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN G. CARPENTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Austin. in the countyof Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Transfer-Tables, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for transferring cars or locomotives from one track to another in substitution for the ordinary switch or Y in common use; and the objects of my invention are to transfer cars or locomotives from one track to another in much less time than it is possible to do by ordinary methods, thus making it possible to have one train follow another as rapidly as is desired, and thereby increase the capacity of a railway. To provide a transfer-table which will occupy the least possible space both transversely and longitudinally with the line of the railway, and also to provide a table whose several parts are so particularly adapted to the purpose that they will be substantial and be operated with the least possible expenditure of power and be at all times under the perfect I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompan'ying drawings.

Figurel is an isometric perspective view of two sections of the transverse railcarrying mechanism and the termination of two railway-tracks. Fig. 2 isa top view; Fig. 3, a side view on line (I. b, Fig. 2; and Fig. a is a vertical longitudinal sectional view on line 0 d, Fig. 2; Fig. 5, repectively side, end, and top views of the foundation transverse track upon which most of the mechanism rests; Fig. 6, respectively side and top views of a series of rollers and the side bars for holding series of rollers; Fig. 7, a side and top view of roller side bars; Fig. 8, respectively side and top views of main traveling cross-tie of the transfer-table; Fig. 9, respectively end, side, and top views and longitudinal vertical sectional view on line a I) of top view of movable side cross-tie; Fig. 10, respectively side, end, and top views and longitudinal vertical sectional view on line 0' d of top view of central table cross-tie; Fig. 11, respectively side and top views of tripdog, all of which will be hereinafter fully explained.

It will be understood that the expressions right hand and left hand refer to the right and left side of the drawings.

In attaching one of these transfer-tables to an ordinary line of double-track railway, the tracks are removed for a length greater than the wheel-base of the longest railway-car, af-

ter which an excavation is made of a depth sufficient to put in a strong foundation, which must be of a width wider than the extreme width occupied by the two tracks, the foundation at the top being of a height to allow for the depth of the mechanism, so that the top of the rails of the table will be even with the top of the rails of the railway.

InFig. l is shown, as before stated, two sections of the transverse rail-carrying mechanism, but it is intended to add as many more as is necessary to give alength of table equal to the greatest length of cars in practice.

In practice the first part to be secured to the foundation is the transverse table-track A, Fig. 5. a flange e projecting upward at each-edge, as shown in end view, Fig. 5. The track A is also perforated with holes e near its center of length, and at each end carries a roller A, which is journaled transversely with rail A in short brackets, as shown.

Fig. 6 shows a train of heavy rollers 13, which are held in position by being j ournaled to side pieces One or more of these rollers are provided with cogs. The one shown in the center of the train B shows cogs whose pitchline is even with the peripheral face of the roller, which has been specially designed for this purpose, so that the roller-face can contact with the surface of the track A without in the least causing the cogs to grind in their action, for the cogs g engage in holes a in track A, and on account of the heavy duty imposed upon them must work with as little friction as possible. After the train of rollers is placed in position on track A (shown by Figs. 3 and 4) the main traveling cross-tie C, Fig. 8, is placed upon the tops of the rollers, its flanges e e overhanging the sides of the rollers B. There are also holes h in the tie G, which are engaged by the top of the cog-roller B, so that as will be seen, Fig. 4:, the crosstie O is in contact with the top of the whole train of rollers.

Firmly secured to the center of length of Track A consists of metal and has traveling cross-tie O is a center cross-tie D, which is long enough to entirely cover the cog-holes h in tie C, thus preventing the entrance of foreign matter to the rollers B. The traveling cross-tie C is provided with several raised notches or hookszrat each end, the purpose of which will appear further on. Each end of center cross-tie D is beveled or inclined, Fig 10, and in the face of the incline is a sunken panelj, i i which panel is a roller j, Fig. 1. At the top of the bevel at each end of center tie D are cleats 7t for holding the outside flanges of table-rails P and P, the inside flanges of rails P and P being held firmly in position by the ends of braces Zlapping upon them. as shown in Figs.'1 and 2. Thus the rails P and P when in the right position are firmly secured and braced to the center ties D. There are short side ties E at the left side and E at the right side, which in relation to immovable center tie D have a motion longitudinal upon the ends of long tie O.

The construction of side ties E and E is plainly shown in 9, where the first view shows the end and the last view a section. Ties E and E are made of two pieces of L- shaped angle-iron, which are held in a separated position by cleats n n and a a, which are securely riveted to the top of the tie, as shown. lhese ties have a deep flange 0 on each side, and the width between the flanges is such that the tie will fit down over the sides of the traveling tie O, is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the fit is loose enough to permit the tie to slide longitudinally upon the ends of C. At p is a hook at the under side of ties E and E, and at the top the cleats U u at the left-hand end in Fig. 9 are cut away at their center of length for the purpose of holding the trip-dog F, Fig. 11, in posit-ion. Trip-dog F has notches r and rnotch r fits the cleat u, as shown in the sectional view, Fig. 4,1eft-hand end, and notch r is fitted to cleat u, but is wider than the thickness of cleat to, so that the dog F can vibrate vertically, notch r acting as a hinge. There is an arm 0" projecting forward from dog F under cleat u, which arm terminates in a beveled end, as shown. At the left-hand end of tie E, Fig. 9, the top portion is bent downward at s, forming a pawl which engages notches w in the ends of long traveling cross-tie C. The under side of cross-tie E, Fig. 9, forms an inclined plane at t, right-hand end. Rail H, at the left-hand side, Fig. 1, is securely fastened to ties E near their inner ends by means of cleats 'n and n, Fig. 2; so, also, rail R on the right-hand side is similarly attached to the end of cross-ties E. Rail H lies upon, but is not firmly attached to, cross-ties E, but is held in position bybeing swung upon arms I or I, left-hand side, 1, 2, and 3, which arms are pivoted at their lower end to the base-rail A. This is also the case with rail R on the right-hand side of the drawings. Railway-rail H, which is securely fastened to cross-ties E, left side, has firmly secured to it a heavy metal block 1;, one block for each section of transverse transferring mechanism. These blocks r are fitted to drop into notches 1;, cut into the top of timbers L, and which are plainly shown in Fig. 1. These blocks 1) are for the purpose of holding rail H and its side ties E and swinging rail H in proper position, so that rails H and 1-1 will coincide with the rails of track J. The ends of all the rails rest upon the top of a metal-covered tnnberM- (Shown only in Fig. 1.) There is a shaft N which lies in a direction longitudinal with the line of railway and passes through and is firmly attached to the cogged roller B of each train of rollers that go to make up a fullsized transfer-table. This shaft N is for the purpose of causing every train of rollers to move alike, and thus insure the absolute parallelism of every part of the transfer-table when transferring a heavy load.

To describe the operation of this invention it will be unde stood that track J is the lefthand main track and track K the right-hand main track. It will also be understood that the rails H and H form, when in the proper posit-ion shown, a continuation of the main track J, and over on the right-hand side rails R and R form. when in proper position, (same as shown on left-hand side,) a continuation of track K. It will be also understood that the real transfer-tablein this invention consists of the bed of rollers and the rail A, which they run upon, the long tie C, and its short center tie D, which firmly support and brace the main rails P and P. The distance between centers of width of ties D, measured along the rails P and P, is in this instance five feet, and should a table be constructed of a length to transfera car of, say, sixty feet long there would be thirteen sections instead of two, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and all of these sections would be solidly connected together by a continuous line of rails P and P and with the shaft N, which would be coupled to the cogged roller of every train of rollers in the different sections, so that any load to be transferred must first be run in upon rails P and P. The side movable auxiliary rails H and H and R and R, respectively, for the right and left hand side are of the same length as rails P and P, but fold together at either one or the other sides of the track like right side, Fig. 1, when the center rails P and P are moved sidewise with a car to take their place. Thus it will be seen that side rails H and H and R and Rare for the purpose of taking the place or filling the break in either track J or K,since transfer table track-rails P and P are not in line with but one track at a time.

I will now explain how the several parts operate when a car is being transferred-say from track K to track J. The car is run in upon rails P and P from track K until the whole wheelbase rests upon thetransfer-table ITO rails P and P. Power is now applied either to theshaft N or directly to the long tie C, so as to cause tie O to move from right to left, carrying the rails P and P with the car until rail P takes the position of rail Hand rail P takes the position of rail H, when the car can be run off upon track J. Now, one of the principal features of this invention is the method of disposing of the rails H and H on the left-hand side and of the rails R and R on the right-hand side of the transfer-table track. It is seen that rails H and H, when they have the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, make a continuous track with track J, so that trains can pass over theleft side of the transfer mechanism. In Fig. 1 are shown blocks otgfirmly secured to the bottom of rail H. These blocks 1; 'v havea bed down in a groove 'v,cut in the top of timbers L near their inside end. Blocks 0 c act as stops to hold cross-ties E or E on right-hand side in position and prevent these ties having any longitudinal movement upon the end of long ties C, but central ties D are firmly secured to long ties O, and when long ties O are moving with rails P and P from right to left the left-hand end of traveling tie C (see Fig. 4) slides under tie E, tie E remaining stationary until the inclined end if of tie E slides up and upon roller j on the face of the inclined end of central tie D, when the end of tie E is lifted, thus releasing the blocksu from notches c in timbers L. The long traveling tie C by this time has pushed its notched end with the notches x clear through the end of tie E, as is shown at the right-hand end for tie E, when at this moment cross-tie E, together with its rail H, is carried along outward to the left, cross-tie E sliding under vibrating rail H until rail H collides with in? clined cleatn and rail H, when vibrating rail H is swung over, swinging upon its supporting-arms I until rail H and arms I at the ter-' mination of motion to the left of traveling-tie O assume the position relative to the rails P and P, as is shown at the right-hand side of Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Thus it will be seen that rails H and H have been entirely removed as acontinuation of track J and the rails P and P of the traveling table now occupy their place, when the car can be run off upon the track J. While the movements described have been taking place the rails R and B have assumed the same position relative to the right-hand track K that the rails H and H have to track J in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the action of the parts to cause the rails to assume the position to form a track will now be described.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, when the long tie O has by its movement lifted cross-tie E and carried it along the end of long tie 0 projects so that its notches a: are beyond the end of the pawl-shaped end 8 of tie E, (right-hand side,) and if now long cross-tie 0 starts on its movement fromright toleft to transferacar the pawl s in the end of each cross-tie E will have caught in one of the notches 0c, and on this account the crosstie E will be carried from right to left with the motion of long tie C. Rail B, being firmlyattached to cross-ties E, will also be carried with its ties E. Vibrating rail R in the meantime swings over on its arms I by gravity until it rests upon the tops of timbers L, where it remains stationary and in line with the right-hand rail of track K. The motion of ties E with rail R being continued from right to left, the end 1" of tripdog F finally collides with the bottom of swinging rail R when the end r of the tripdog is depressed, causing the lower angle to of the trip-dog to strike against the top face of long tie C and raise the pawl end 8 of ties E out of notch 00, which causes ties E to stop by the blocks '0 dropping into notches v in timbers L, which firmly hold ties E from further movement until again raised,so that the blocks '0 are relieved from notches Q). When ties E have reached this position,rail R is in line with the left-hand rail of track K, thus completing a continuation of track K. As will be noticed in Fig. 3 (left hand end) the outer part of tie E is held up by the tie rest ing upon roller A, and another roller .A is provided for the right-hand end, as shown in several of the drawings. The motion of traveling tie O is limited in either direction by a shoulder y, at each end next to notches or, contacting with hook p at the under side of traveling ties E or E, Fig. 4, (left-hand end,) traveling tie C, when its shoulder y strikes the hook 19, having at this point attained the full limit of its stroke or movement, ties E or E being anchored in the position shown at left hand, Fig. 4, by the rail H or R, having the blocks t), which are attached to them, resting in the notch o in the timbers L.

What I claim as my invention is-- 1. In a transfer-table, a cogged roller B,

having cogs whose pitch-line is coincident with the peripheral surface of said cogged roller, said cogged roller operating in combination with a base-rail A and the described traveling tie 0, said base-rail and traveling tie 0 having perforations into which the cogs of roller 13 operates, for the purpose described. r

2. In a transfer-table, a traveling cross-tie 0, having a central strengthening-tie D secured to its center of length, said tie D covering the perforations h in traveling crosstie O.

3. In a transfer-table, a traveling cross-tie 0, having one or more notchesoc and a shoulder 3 at each end, as described, said notches a; being used in combination with a pawl 3, formed at the outside end of side cross-ties E or E, for the purpose described.

4. In a transfer-table, a trip-dog F, hinged to the outer end of side tiesE or E, said tripdog having an arm r, which is operated by striking against outer rail H or It, said tripdog F having a contact=point w, which operates against the top face of traveling tie O, in the manner and for the purpose described.

5. In a transfer-table, side ties E or E, having an inclined or beveled end If, as described, which is adapted to operate in combination Witharoller j, said roller j operating in a panel j in the face of the beveled ends of center cross-ties D, for the purpose described.

6. In a transfer-table, inside rail H or R, permanently attached to side ties E and E near one end of said ties, as shown, said rails H or R having attached blocks 0, which act in combination with slots '0 in timbers L to anchor cross-ties E or E, for the purpose stated.

7. Ina transfer-table, outside rails H or R, attached to arms I or I, which arms are pivoted at their lower ends to any part of the base to give the'requisite motion to permit rails H or R to vibrate in the manner and for the purpose as hereinbefore shown and described.

8. In a transfer-table, a base-rail A, rollers B, and cogged roller B, operating upon said base-rail A in the manner described, traveling tie 0, operating and resting upon the top of said rollers B, and cogged roller B, central cross-tie D, secured to said traveling-tie 0, side ties E and E, operating in combination with traveling tie G and its central tie D, rails P and P, securely attached to central tie D, rails H and B, respectively, firmly attached to side ties E and E, and operating in combination with swinging rails H and R, for the purpose described.

9. In a transfer-table, a shaft N firmly secured to each cogged roller B of each series or train of rollers B and connecting each section of transverse operating mechanism, for the purpose described.

10. Inatransler-table, side tiesE orE,composed of two pieces of L-shaped metal secured together by means of cleats u and u and n and n, said cleats n and n fitted to also firmly secure rail H or R to said ties E or E, and said cleats u or u to act also in combination to hold the outside base-flange of swinging rails H or R and to hold trip-dog F in position, in the manner and for the purpose as shown and described.

11. In a transfer-table, hook p at the under side of side ties E or E for the purpose of contacting with the inner shoulder y at the ends of traveling cross-tie O and limiting the travel of said tie O in either direction.

NATHAN G. CARPENTER.

\Vitnesses:

H. S. BROWN, HANS J AOOBSON. 

